Collections Advisor is a free monthly email that includes tips on how to improve collections care, information about collections care advocacy and case studies of collections care successes in Hoosier cultural organizations.
Subscribe to Collections Advisor
For questions, please email collectionsadvisor@indianahistory.org.
Past issues, arranged alphabetically by topic:
Access
Collections Processing
Exhibits and Interpretation
Facilities
Funding
Policies and Procedures
Preservation and Conservation
Storage
Other Tips
Special Edition Minivisors (Produced during the COVID-19 Crisis)
This free electronic newsletter arrives in your inbox every Friday filled with lots of exciting news for local history organizations and anyone involved in local history. Find out about exhibits, programs, resources and opportunities around the state and beyond.
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For questions or to submit articles for publication, please email col@indianahistory.org.
Recent editions:
Find a dynamic speaker or performer for your organization’s next special program or annual meeting.
At your next event, would you like to meet Abraham Lincoln or learn about Hoosier women’s roles? From the African Methodist Episcopal church to the Wabash and Erie Canal, discover performers, lecturers and first-person interpreters who share local and national history.
The Indiana Historical Society Speakers Bureau is provided as a service to groups and organizations throughout Indiana seeking program topics with a historical flavor. The database allows you to search by keyword, presentation type, even fee.
Contact speakers directly for availability and questions. Financial and travel arrangements can and should be discussed at the time of contact. In many cases, both the speaker’s fees and travel expenses are negotiable.
SEARCH TIPS: Click “Keyword Search” and enter “SB*” into the search box to see all of the listings.
To narrow your search, click “Advanced Search” and enter “Presentation” into the Object Type field, and then add a keyword or topic into the Summary field.
To specifically find free programs type “none” into the Fee field.
Interested in being added to the list as a speaker? Fill out the Speaker Listing Form.
Need to be removed from the list? Let us know by emailing localhistoryservices@indianahistory.org.
The Lending Resource Center provides program and technical resources to organizations and individuals who collect, preserve, research and/or interpret Indiana’s history.
Do you need help running your historical society, museum, preservation group, library, archive or genealogical group? We offer a substantial lending library of reference and how-to materials. We also offer sample job descriptions, policies and other documents.
Topics include archives management, board development, conservation, disaster planning, evaluation, fundraising, museum operations and much more.
The normal lending period is four weeks, but extensions may be granted if there are no pending requests. There are no limitations on the number of times requests may be made. Up to four publications may be borrowed at a time. There is no charge for borrowing items, however you are required to pay return postage. You are financially responsible for lost or damaged items.
To arrange a loan, request an extension or suggest materials to add to our lending library, e-mail us at localhistoryservices@indianahistory.org or call (317) 233-3110. When ordering, please provide the titles and authors (if known), your name, phone number, mailing address and the historical organization that you represent.
Technical Leaflets Available for Download
Professional Standards have been established for the fields of history and museums to ensure best practices, professional conduct and characteristics of excellence. The links below offer guidelines and resources for meeting these standards.
Archives
Collections
Digitization
Genealogy
Historical Societies and Museums
Historic Preservation
History Scholarship
Oral History
Volunteer Programs
I.M. Hero, an enthusiastic volunteer, begins his first day at the museum and realizes that it is under attack by Deteriora and her evil agents. Will the hero save the museum? How will he defeat the Agents of Destruction? Who will help him? Find the answers to these and other questions in Deteriora and the Agents of Destruction.
Deteriora and the Agents of Destruction is part of the Connecting to Collections initiative and is supported in part by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The project was developed in partnership with the Civic Theater of Greater Lafayette (Indiana) and the Purdue
University Galleries which received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts for a series of Living Graphic Novel projects.
Chapter 1 Emperor Apathy summons Deteriora and the Agents of Destruction…
Chapter 2 The Obfuscator distracts with his evil magic!
Chapter 3 Ultra Violet shines through?
Chapter 4 Mass O’Frass really starts to bug our heroes!!!
Chapter 5 The Dust Bunny HOPS to his task.
Chapter 6 Miss Handler and Miss Appropriate make a public appearance…
Chapter 7 The Final Battle!
Chapter 8 Collections care resources and the making of “Deteriora and the Agents of Destruction”